Prostaglandins produced by cyclooxygenase and leukotrienes produced by lipoxygenase are widely known as physiologically active substances produced from arachidonic acid. However, recent studies have been clarifying a wide variety of in vivo functions of 20-HETE which is produced from arachidonic acid by the action of enzymes belonging to the cytochrome p450 family. Previous reports have indicated that 20-HETE causes microvascular constriction or dilation in major organs (e.g., kidneys, cerebral blood vessels) and induces cell proliferation, thus suggesting that 20-HETE plays an important physiological role in vivo and is deeply involved in the development of various conditions such as kidney diseases, cerebrovascular diseases and cardiovascular diseases (J. Vascular Research, vol. 32, p. 79, 1995, Am. J. Physiol., vol. 277, p. R607, 1999, Physiol. Rev., vol. 82, p. 131, 2002).
Under these circumstances, it has been reported that some N′-hydroxyphenylformamidine derivatives and carboxylic acid derivatives have a strong inhibitory effect against 20-HETE-producing enzymes (International Patent Publication Nos. WO0132164, WO01096309 and WO0168610, Japanese Patent Publication Nos. JP2001354658 and JP2001354656).